Marc Yellock, a four-year East Carolina letterman, is in his fifth season of his second tour of action with the Pirate coaching staff.

Yellock, who officially joined head coach Ruffin McNeill's staff on Feb. 2, 2010, added to his responsibilities a year later with oversight of the entire defensive line in ECU's newly-implemented 3-4 package after serving as ends coach during his initial campaign.

Many credited Yellock for his notable development and patience with the program's youngest unit in 2010 as the Pirates featured three freshmen and a sophomore on the depth chart for the majority of the season.

A year later, he guided nose tackle Michael Brooks to a 55-tackle effort during the 2011 campaign - the most among all Pirate linemen. Brooks, who later would go on to earn a roster position and Super Bowl Championship ring with the Seattle Seahawks, also led the entire unit with 5.5 hits for lost yardage to help Yellock's line played an integral role in a defensive turnaround that enabled the Pirates to improve 64 places on the FBS total defense rankings (allowing 102.5 fewer yards per game in comparison to the previous year).

Brooks and Lee Pegues, who both earned All-Conference USA honors as ends, anchored Yellock's line in 2012. The duo, along with nose tackles Terry Williams and Terrell Stanley, combined to tally 149 stops and 17.5 TFLs to lead a rush defense that rated among the top four in the league.

In addition to helping spearhead another stellar run-stopping effort that improved to a No. 13 national rank during the 2013 season, Yellock's unit was also instrumental in netting a similar No. 13 standing among all FBS programs with 2.9 sacks per game. Pegues, Stanley, who moved to an end position, and nose tackle Chrishon Rose were selected to the all-league team, while rookie Demetri McGill was included on C-USA's All-Freshman squad.

Yellock has also provided exemplary off-the-field academic leadership as end Matt Milner became the first Academic All-America selection in the history of the Pirate football program in 2011 before following as a repeat choice a season later.

Before accepting the position as Elon's defensive line coach in 2006 where he helped guide the Phoenix to a Top 10 national ranking in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) final polls for the first time in school history, he spent two seasons as a defensive staff assistant under coaches John Thompson and Skip Holtz at ECU in 2004 and 2005, respectively.

Yellock's efforts at Elon played a key role in the Phoenix' rise to new heights in their 11-year Division I history, culminating with No. 9 standing in The Sports Network poll after a 9-3 campaign in 2009 that included an at-large selection into the FCS playoffs - also a first in program history.

Two of Yellock's linemen - Andre Campbell and Eric Ludwig - earned First-Team All-Southern Conference accolades in 2009 and the pair were a key factor for an Elon unit that stood 11th nationally in total defense and 15th against the rush.

Yellock gained additional experience during the summer of 2009, completing an internship with the New Orleans Saints where he worked with the organization's defensive line and special teams unit.

During his four-year playing career at East Carolina which began in 1997 under Steve Logan, Yellock experienced action in 26 games and made 18 starts and was part of Pirate teams that advanced to a pair of bowl games in 1999 (Mobile Bowl) and 2000 (galleryfurniture.com).

His collegiate career followed four letterwinning campaigns as a defensive end at Person County High School in Roxboro, N.C., between 1992 and 1995.

After earning a bachelor's degree in chemistry from ECU in 2000, Yellock worked two years at Metric, Inc. of Greenville, serving as a lab analyst for one year and as an analytical chemist for one year before returning to football as a linebackers coach at J.H. Rose High School in 2002. He followed his one-year prep stint by joining the Pirate staff as a video intern in 2003 before being elevated to a staff assistant's position a year later.

Yellock, 36, is the father of twins - a boy, Hunter, and a girl, Taylor.